el chavo del ocho is one of the most influential pieces of popular culture to have hit latin america in the last 50 years, having, at the peak of its popularity in the mid-1970s, reached an approximate audience of 350 million across the americas. it is also a rare example of a cultural product that has travelled through latin america, leaving a lasting impact for several decades.

resonances of el chavo del ocho in latin american childhood, schooling, and societies analyses the phenomenon of el chavo, and its images of schooling and childhood, latin american-ness, class and experience. with contributions from scholars emerging from or based in countries including brazil, mexico, chile, puerto rico, argentina, venezuela, colombia and the us, the book combines reflections from a variety of international perspectives without attempting to compare or reach consensus on any ultimate meaning(s) of the work. the book explores themes such as images of schooling and childhood, romantization of poverty, the prevalence of non-traditional families and the bordering cynicism towards the economic structures and inequalities which, some argue, make the show transgressive and quite uniquely latin american. investigating the connection between visual culture studies and transcultural curriculum studies, this innovative title provides scholars with original new insights into conceptualizing childhood, schooling and society in latin america.

this book investigates the spaces of interaction between portuguese and brazilian modernists--specifically oswald de andrade, augusto de campos and haroldo de campos, ronald de carvalho, ant nio ferro, fernando pessoa, m rio de s -carneiro--and their interpretation of nation. most importantly, the way in which their work echoes and transfigures the ulysses myth, to be termed portuguese ulyssism by brazilian gilberto freyre in his reading of lu's vaz de cam es's epic poem the lusiads, is analyzed, underlining the presence of a postcolonial ulysses in the lusophone world. the trope of the shipwreck is central to the creative production of these atlantic modernists who, outside of their respective national literatures, interact beyond the territories of nation-states through texts on exile, national identity, and colonialism.

in addition to the renowned the lusiads, the texts studied include two issues of the luso-brazilian quarterly orpheu (1915) and ant nio ferro's contributions to brazil's klaxon (1922, in celebration of the centenary of brazil's political independence from portugal); oswald de andrade's anthropophagic manifesto (1928) and an unpublished letter to ferro; fernando pessoa's poem "ulysses" in message (1934); and haroldo de campos's galaxies (1984) and "finismundo: the last voyage" (1997). in a postcolonial ulysses in the lusophone world, relocations and transfigurations of the ulysses myth inform a dialogue between the modernists of portugal and brazil through texts on exile, national identity, and colonialism.